


betwixt & between

by usoverlooked



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-09
Updated: 2013-08-09
Packaged: 2017-12-22 23:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/919087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/usoverlooked/pseuds/usoverlooked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annie is really good at things that are certain - the weight of a mole (scientifically speaking), grammar, the best study method for foreign languages. Things that are confusing and vague - like Troy and Abed's relationship, her future and that weird twist in her gut at her boys's smiles. She's not too stellar at those.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(or the one where Annie has confusing emotions and Apartment 303 goes on a roadtrip)</p>
            </blockquote>





	betwixt & between

**Author's Note:**

> Originally for the fic exchange, so here's for whomever. (If the mods get back to me on the recipent, I'll add them)
> 
> Thanks as always to Kate for kicking me in the ass when I needed it and holding my hand through this when I needed it.

Annie Edison does not deal in maybes. Annie thrives on certainty – the little box marked ‘yes’, ‘correct’, ‘accepted’. Apparently the University of Colorado either is unaware of this or just does not give a damn. She is standing in the kitchen of their apartment alone when she realizes this. Of course the boys, her boys, would be there – hell, the whole study group would ring up around her, hands on shoulders and arms, awaiting this response from the graduate program. Yet Annie, for some reason she can’t quite put her finger on, waved them all off. There were various excuses, vague enough ones that they all knew them to be just that – excuses. Luckily, her friends accepted the excuses. So here she stands, amongst half-dried bowls of kid’s cereal and recipes for large meals, with her entire future decided by one awful little word. Some part of her wished for the other word, because friends could take you out for a conciliatory ice cream cone if declined. Deferred, on the other hand, meant a question mark. Friends could not comfort you or reward you for a big fat maybe, Annie thinks. So Annie drops the letter, letting it fall on the table next to an overly highlighted TV Guide and some wire contraption. She ignores the tightness in her chest, returns to her room. Dropping to her knees, she drags out a suitcase from her childhood. It’s worn and bruised - a veteran of various domestic wars from her twenty-two years. From within it, Annie digs out brochures, some faded with age, their edges creased a thousand times overs and others fresh and newly minted. With care, the girl lays them out, methodically. They number nearly fifty, all for various attractions. Once the pamphlets are arranged as she likes, Annie draws her phone out of her dress’s pocket, eyes still on the brochures. The line rings twice and even in that short time, she very nearly hangs up.

“It’s Annie,” Abed says plainly as an opening. Annie barely even notes that it’s an odd statement – phone calls between the three always go as this, her calling one of the boys and that one getting the other before even greeting her. There’s shuffling on the other end before Troy shouts a hello – speaker phone always makes Troy paranoid about being heard.

“So guys, I know that school doesn’t start until August for you guys… Well, I was kind of thinking we could do a roadtrip?” Annie fiddles with the hem of her dress as she speaks, cradling the phone against her shoulder.  “I’ve got pamphlets.”

  
  
  


They agree - Troy exuberantly and Abed in that same monotone - and Annie lets the rest of the group know. Shirley offers prayers, Britta texts back a thumbs-up emoji and Jeff doesn’t respond. The shocking reaction comes from Pierce. Pierce buys them a jumbo sized map – it’s unwarrantedly kind and makes Annie blush at the support. The older man waves off their thanks, claiming he appreciated the need for travel and pushing into a story about travelling across country with Jim Belushi and Gilda Radnor. All three listen intently – figuring they owe him that much at the least. Afterwards, they cart the map back to the apartment and tack it onto the wall. Annie feels a bit intimidated by the size of it – the vast expanse of land she does not know.

“I want to visit Hollywood,” Abed speaks up first. “That could be our ending destination.”

It’s final, the way he says it, but neither of the other two argue with it. Troy, in fact, scrambles to grab a thumb tack – red and final and bright – and smacks it into the ‘O’ of Hollywood on the map, turning after to give a huge grin and a thumbs-up. Abed nods at the reaction and Annie smiles, albeit nervously.

“I want to go to the ocean,” Troy says. Abed shoots a finger gun at his friend and Troy’s face brightens. Annie glances between the two before nodding – it feels like this at times, that Annie is a third wheel. She swallows, trying to ignore the feeling, but it lingers at the edge of her thoughts.

“Well I would like to visit a National Forest or two and maybe some museums,” Annie says as she steps away from the boys. Moving around them, she crouches to grab a few brochures. “Look, this Zion Park has places to climb and stuff, doesn’t that sound fun?”

“No,” Troy admits and Annie pouts for a moment before the boy shrugs. “But it’s your trip and we already picked places so we’ll go there anyways.”

  
  
  


Annie wakes them all up at five in the morning, bursting into the boys’ room with her ‘Fun Things’ backpack over one shoulder and her hands nervously adjusting the GPS. She looks up from it to find the boys sprawling across one bunk, their ankles mixing together and Troy’s head resting on Abed’s shoulder. A blush blossoms across her cheeks and she stammers as they open their eyes – Troy whining about the early hour and Abed simply blinking at her – the irksome feeling that she’s walked in on something not meant for her eyes seeming to stretch before her. She feels as she has a million times before – generally with Jeff and Britta - the odd one out. Troy rubs a hand over his head as he sits up and Annie realizes that he is only in his boxers.

Of course, Annie has lived with the boys for nearly two years so she’s seen him in his boxers before – often during the Britta phase and less-so during the Amanda era. The context of this seems different, like some secret she’s stumbled upon. Neither boy seems very distressed though – Troy gives her an odd look as he tugs on a t-shirt and steps into jeans while Abed climbs out of the bed and grabs a suitcase. Annie swallows as Troy brushes by her to get something from the Dreamatorium.

“You’re upset,” Abed observes as he rolls his suitcase out of their room, Annie following in tow. Annie shakes her head and picks up her bag from aside the kitchen table. Abed looks at her for a moment, trying to discern something, but she rolls her eyes and grabs an apple from the table, avoiding his eyes.

“Do I need a poncho?” Troy calls from the Dreamatorium. His housemates both call back negatively and he pops out of the room with a floppy hat atop his head. He smiles widely and tosses an arm around Annie’s shoulders as he reaches them. She watches Abed for a reaction, but there is none.

“Annie, I know that you like streamlined the cafeteria lines at Greendale but,” Troy pauses and Annie looks up at him. His smile is directed at Abed now and Annie’s stomach flips.

“But what?” Annie says, her voice biting, after a moment. Abed’s eyes shift to her, obviously still trying to solve the riddle of Annie’s emotions.

“This is the best idea you’ve ever had,” Troy finishes his statement and squeezes her shoulder. Annie grinds her teeth and suggests they load up the car.

  
  
  


“So what made you want to go on a roadtrip?” Abed asks as they cross the Colorado border. Annie turns to look at him. The pair is seated in the backseat while Troy drives – a country station blasting almost errantly, none of them listening. Annie sits with her knees primly kept near her while Abed is cross-legged with a notebook open on one knee. He is scribbling something in it when Annie looks at him.

“It seemed fun,” Annie says, her voice small. Troy reaches over and turns down the radio as the singer twangs something about a girl’s blue jeans.

“It does seem kinda...” Troy trails off and glances in the rearview mirror at Abed. He doesn’t notice until Troy clears his throat “Out of character.” Abed says after a beat and Troy nods.

“Why, because it’s fun? I like fun things,” Annie says, staring out the window. Abed clicks his tongue at that.

“You’re hiding something,” he says. The way he says it makes it a fact – there is no question to him that Annie is hiding something. Annie grinds her teeth next to him and shrugs, not trusting her ability to refute the statement. They drive on for a few more miles in tense silence – Troy humming nervously as they do – before it gets to Annie. She slaps her hand down on the windowsill.

“It’s not like you guys aren’t hiding things from me,” she shrieks, her voice high enough to leak emotions into anything she says. “I saw you this morning! I live with you guys; how could you not tell me that you’re…”

The words won’t form so she waves a hand violently to finish the statement. Abed stares at her, unreacting, but Troy is stammering something in the front seat.  Annie rolls her eyes. “Just save it, okay? I don’t even care, whatever.”

Troy quiets, Annie leans forward and turns the radio up too loud and Abed continues to stare at her for a moment.

  
  
  
  


There is a town they drive through that is too small – one gas station, two general stores, one motel and a smattering of houses – and Annie watches as they pass it all by, the only car in sight. Something about it makes her feel too large for her bones, like she’s about to burst out of herself into the street, a wild woman. Next to her, Troy smiles oddly.

“What?” She asks him, her voice kind again, the previous spat smoothed over through miles of travel.

“It’s just so weird, like, these people live here and they probably don’t get movies or good cable or any of that and they’re, y’know, happy. It’s like those Aborigines or something, they aren’t upset because they don’t know what they’re missing,” Troy says as he looks out the window. “I don’t know, it just seems kinda sad and happy, I guess.”

“Bittersweet,” Abed puts in. Troy snorts a laugh.

“Abed, I’m not talking about chocolate chips,” he says, giving Annie a look of amusement. Annie smiles, trying to ignore the tightening in her stomach – it feels something like jealousy which is silly.

“I was kind of thinking the same thing,” Annie admits. “I mean, not about Aborigines, I don’t really know how they relate, but like how I feel more than them. Bigger or something.”

“Cool,” Abed says. “I wish I was recording this, it has a very Indie movie feel to it.”

Annie smiles again and leans her head on Troy’s shoulder, watching the lights fade as they drive past the last of the houses. Troy’s arm falls along the back of the seats and Annie tries very hard not to feel at home against his hoodie. She fails.

  
  
  


At the motel – in a town with lights strung along the main street, quaint and charming – they get one room with two beds. Annie breathes through her nose when Abed tells the manager that, memorizing the carpet. Troy’s arm brushes hers and she digs her fingernails into her palm to keep from wanting to grab at his hand.

When they get to the room, Annie changes into her clothes in the bathroom and is surprised to find the boys in their boxers when she exits. In the past, they had at least worn pajama pants, but apparently no more. She opens her book, sits carefully on her bed and avoids commenting. One of them turns on the TV and she can see them out of the corner of her eye arranging themselves on the bed – Troy sprawling on his stomach, head in hands, while Abed leans on one side, facing Annie partially. Troy fiddles with the remote, turning the closed captioning on in Spanish as he always does, before settling on some version of Law & Order. Annie’s book finds its way to her lap, unattended as she watches the detectives.

“I’ll go get ice,” Troy says when the television cuts to a commercial of a yelling car salesman. He rolls off the bed and yanks on his jeans. “I love the ice at hotels, it’s always so crunchy.”

He grabs the bucket and disappears out the door while Abed takes the remote and mutes the commercial. Annie picks her book back up.

“Are you jealous of me? For being with Troy?” Abed asks so plainly that Annie is unsure if she imagined the question. She spins on him, her eyes wide with shock, and finds him looking at her.

“Jealous?” She squawks, gripping the edges of her book with ferocity. Abed shrugs. “Abed! That’s ridiculous. I mean, I’m just… I was upset because you kept it a secret, I wouldn’t. Not jealous.”

She sputters a noise and Abed moves from his bed to hers, a hand on her back to comfort her. She leans against him almost instinctively.

“So are you jealous of Troy then?” Abed asks against her ear in a voice that isn’t quite his own – it’s some character. She blushes for a moment before shoving him away.

“Abed! No!” She says, her ears heating red as she stands. Abed shrugs, leaning back against her pillows. Annie paces for a moment, trying to regain her bearings, before Troy walks back in. She slips past him, muttering some explanation and breathes in the cool air. She’s being ridiculous, she knows that, yet as she leans against the door, hearing the television be turned back on she can’t help but feel wrong. Like she’s out of place again. Annie sighs and straightens up, like a soldier marching to battle, before sliding back in the hotel room. Troy looks at her oddly and Abed’s gaze is penetrating but Annie smiles and picks up her book, trying to feel normal again.

 

  
  


Abed falls asleep nearly as soon as they get on the highway the next day. Annie, the appointed driver for all of the morning legs of the journey, only notices when Troy begins to climb from the back to the passenger seat. His shoe comes off in the process and Annie nervously locks her arms – fearful that he’ll slam into her as he settles in. Instead, he is rather graceful – apart from losing the shoe – and settles in. When Annie looks over, she clears her throat and thumbs her seatbelt. Troy apologizes and reaches for his own. Annie’s grip on the steering wheel loosens and one hand drops onto the center console.

“Annie, are you okay?” He asks as he clicks the seatbelt into place. She keeps her eyes on the road and Troy takes the nonreaction as a need to elaborate. “I mean, you seemed kinda weird yesterday about like getting one room. Are you—”

“I’m not jealous!” Annie says, head turning to look at Troy. She keeps her voice low, as if her statement may summon Abed to consciousness. Troy blinks at her before nodding.

“Weird,” he says and Annie turns back to the road. “No, I mean, I kinda realized that we hadn’t told you and I remember when Britta and I started dating that you were so happy to know and you weren’t happy this time so…”

“I don’t know. I mean, I’m not really upset that you didn’t tell me,” Annie says and the words feel true as she says them. “I guess I just feel sort of like the odd one out. I mean, you remember when we found out that Jeff and Britta were doing it secretly that one semester?”

“That sucked,” Troy admits. He scrubs a hand through his hair, eyes wide in shock, and Annie watches him out of the corner of her eyes. He finally places a hand onto the center console, pausing there before gripping her hand that sits there.  “We didn’t mean to be like that. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, it’s just kinda hard being the third wheel,” Annie shrugs and squeezes his hand. “You guys are good together though – even Shirley has always thought that, though she usually looks really pained when she admits it.”

“Thanks,” Troy ducks his head, smiling. “Besides, you don’t have to be the third wheel. You could always join us.”

“Troy! Gross,” Annie laughs, butterflies riling in her stomach. Troy laughs and Annie tries very hard to control her imagination.

  
  
  


They make it to Kingman, Arizona before it’s mutually agreed that they’re too exhausted to go further. Once again, they get two beds, one room, but this time Annie feels more comfortable with it. She chocks it up to Troy’s apology as well as the sing-along she led – they had to pull over for a minute because Annie couldn’t stop laughing when Abed managed to rap the entirety of one verse in “Fergalicious.”

When they get to the room, Annie flops onto one of the beds. Troy once again grabs the ice bucket.

"I can get it," Annie says, hopping back up and grabbing the bucket from Troy's hands. He expresses his thanks as she fumbles with the door before leaving.

The walk to the ice dispenser is a long one and Annie finds herself in a rather long line when she reaches it. The first woman is elderly and takes her sweet time getting the ice. The next two ahead of Annie hurry along well enough but by her wristwatch it's still about fifteen minutes before she gets back to the room.

When she opens the door, Annie is both shocked and rather expecting the sight before her. Troy scrambles for a shirt as Abed rearranges a blanket over himself. As Troy tugs his shirt on he continually stammers out apologies.

"It's not a big deal Troy," Annie says. She means it, though more so because she wants him to stop pulling clothes back on. Swallowing, Annie tries to turn her focus away from his abdominal muscles.

"Troy was serious, yknow," Abed says, his eyes also on Troy's midsection. Annie turns to Abed with wide eyes.

"It's true. You're like totally hot, we'd be into it," Troy puts in, head finally appearing from the top of his shirt. He smooths the bottom of it down and Annie wonders if its a nervous gesture.

"I'll, um, think about it," Annie stammers, blushing hot.

She's rather shocked at the offer - as well as her reaction. It's not weird, she finds herself thinking. Internally, she begins a pros and cons list before looking over at the other bed. They're relaxed, her boys, and she realizes something. She does want to. It's wild and unconventional and Annie smiles at the thought of it.

"Alright," Annie says abruptly. Both boys turn at the statement and she smiles wider. "Let's do it."

  
  
  


It takes them two more days to get to Hollywood. The town's overpopulated and street vendors yell to them, but it's still the best vacation Annie's ever been on. Shirley calls on their second day in Hollywood - she's been picking up their mail and University of Colorado has sent something and she's wondering if Annie would like her to open it for her. Annie looks from Troy to Abed as she considers the offer.

"Thanks Shirley," Annie says finally. "I can figure that out later."


End file.
